Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microphone unit for stereo recording applicable to a video recorder, an audio recorder, an external microphone, or the like.
Description of the Related Art
General devices, such as a video recorder, an audio recorder, or an external microphone, are provided with a pair of left and right microphones to record a sound source in stereo. The left and right microphones are placed in an arrangement suitable for stereo recording. For example, known arrangements of left and right microphones are in a V shape, in an inverted V shape, and in parallel. Among them, the inverted V shaped arrangement is called as an XY technique. In the XY technique, the sound pickup axes of the left and right microphones intersect with each other. The XY technique is excellent in localized expression of recorded sound in comparison with other arrangements. That is, according to the XY technique, sound arrangement is expressed, in addition to the left and right directions, in the near and far direction. Moreover, the XY technique is excellent in recording of sound from the front.
Conventionally, recording devices have been proposed that allow change in the arrangement of left and right microphones. For example, Patent Documents 1 through 4 listed below disclose audio recorders that allow change in the arrangement of left and right microphones to any of a V shape, an inverted V shape, and parallel.